Portable electronic device

ABSTRACT

A portable electronic device includes a case, a push-push mechanism, and an element. The push-push mechanism includes a hollow column disposed in the case and having alternately arranged long grooves and short grooves, a pushing component having an inner end portion extending into the hollow column, a rotating component movably disposed in the hollow column, and a spring disposed for biasing the rotating component toward the pushing component. The pushing component is movable together with the element relative to the hollow column between a received position and an ejected position, where the positioning teeth are slidably and respectively received in the long grooves and the element is ejected out of the case.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No.100125637, filed on Jul. 20, 2011, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a portable electronic device, and moreparticularly to a portable electronic device having a push-pushmechanism.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a conventional notebook computer, an antenna is concealed inside acase of the notebook computer. In consideration of the appearancedesign, the case of the notebook computer may be made of metal. However,the metal case has a shielding effect on the antenna concealed therein,thereby degrading the signal transmission and receiving efficiency ofthe antenna. Therefore, if an electronic device having a push-pushmechanism can be developed so that an antenna can be moved by thepush-push mechanism to a position not shielded by a case of theelectronic device when the antenna is in use, the electronic device willmeet the requirements of appearance design and antenna transmissionefficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a portableelectronic device having a push-push mechanism capable of ejecting anantenna or other elements.

Accordingly, a portable electronic device of the present inventioncomprises a case formed with an opening, a push-push mechanism, and anelement. The push-push mechanism includes a hollow column, a pushingcomponent, a rotating component and a spring. The hollow column isdisposed in the case, and has an inner surrounding surface, a pluralityof long grooves separately formed in the inner surrounding surface, anda plurality of short grooves shorter than the long grooves, formed inthe inner surrounding surface, and disposed alternately with the longgrooves. The pushing component has an outer end portion disposed in thecase at a position adjacent to the opening, an inner end portionextending from the outer end portion into the hollow column, and aplurality of first engaging teeth disposed annularly on the inner endportion. The rotating component is movably disposed in the hollow columnand includes a ring member, a plurality of positioning teeth separatelyprotruding from an external surface of the ring member, and a pluralityof second engaging teeth disposed annularly on the ring member andabutting against the first engaging teeth. The spring is disposed in thehollow column and biases the rotating component toward the pushingcomponent. The element is connected to the outer end portion of thepushing component. The pushing component is capable of moving relativeto the hollow column between a received position, where the positioningteeth engage respectively with the short grooves and the element islocated within the case, and an ejected position, where the positioningteeth are slidably and respectively received in the long grooves and theelement is ejected out of the case through the opening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments withreference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a portableelectronic device according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the firstembodiment of the portable electronic device according to the presentinvention, illustrating a case, an antenna and a push-push mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the first embodiment,illustrating a pushing component at a received position, and the antennalocated within the case;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the push-push mechanism of thefirst embodiment;

FIG. 5 is another exploded perspective view of the push-push mechanismof the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a hollow column of the push-pushmechanism;

FIG. 7 is an assembled sectional view of the hollow column and arotating component of the push-push mechanism when the pushing componentis at the received position;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary schematic view of the first embodiment,illustrating that during the movement from the received position to anejected position, the pushing component is pressed to drive the rotatingcomponent to move inwardly;

FIG. 9 is another assembled sectional view of the hollow column and therotating component of the push-push mechanism when the pushing componentmoves from the received position toward the ejected position;

FIG. 10 is another fragmentary sectional view of the first embodiment,illustrating the pushing component at the ejected position, and theantenna is ejected out of the case;

FIG. 11 is another assembled sectional view of the hollow column and therotating component of the push-push mechanism when the pushing componentis at the ejected position;

FIG. 12 is another fragmentary schematic view of the first embodiment,illustrating that during the movement from the ejected position to thereceived position, the pushing component is pressed to drive therotating component to move inwardly;

FIG. 13 is still another assembled sectional view of the hollow columnand the rotating component of the push-push mechanism when the pushingcomponent moves from the ejected position toward the received position;

and

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary sectional view of a second embodiment of theportable electronic device according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Before this invention is described in detail, it should be noted that,in the following description, similar elements are designated by thesame reference numerals.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of a portable electronic device100 according to the present invention. The portable electronic device100 comprises a case 1, a push-push mechanism 2 connected to the case 1,and an element 3 disposed on the push-push mechanism 2. In thisembodiment, the portable electronic device 100 is exemplified using anotebook computer, and the element 3 is exemplified using an antenna.Alternatively, the portable electronic device 100 may be a tabletcomputer, a personal digital assistant or the like, and the element 3may be a built-in speaker, a stylus, a light or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the case 1 is capable of accommodatingelectronic elements of the portable electronic device 100, such as amother board (not shown), a central processor (not shown) and a heatdissipater (not shown). The case 1 includes an outer wall 11 and asupporting wall 12 recessed in the outer wall 11. The supporting wall 12has a supporting wall portion 121, and a surrounding wall portion 123extending outwardly from an outer periphery of the supporting wallportion 121 and connected to the outer wall 11. The outer wall 11 has anexternal surface 111 facing outwardly, an internal surface 112 facingthe inside of the case 1, and two inner wall surfaces 113 connecting theexternal surface 111 and the internal surface 112. The inner wallsurfaces 113 define an opening 14 therebetween. In this embodiment, theopening 14 is formed on a lateral side of a lower part of the notebookcomputer. However, the position of the opening 14 is not limitedthereto, and the opening 14 may be formed in a lateral side of an upperpart of the notebook computer.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6, the push-push mechanism 2 includes ahollow column 21, a pushing component 22, a rotating component 23, aspring 24, and a plate component 25. The hollow column 21 is cylindricaland is mounted on the supporting wall portion 121 of the supporting wall12. The pushing component 22 has an outer end portion 221 disposed at aposition in the outer wall 11 of the case 1 adjacent to the opening 14,and a cylindrical inner end portion 225 extending from the outer endportion 221 into the hollow column 21. The outer end portion 221 is acasing, and includes a retaining member 223 connected to the inner endportion 225, and an outer cover member 222 for enclosing the retainingmember 223. The rotating component 23 is rotatably disposed in thehollow column 21 and abuts against the inner end portion 225 of thepushing component 22. The rotating component 23 has a ring member 231that has an end formed with a receiving groove 232 for accommodating theplate component 25. The plate component 25 has a plate portion 251, anda surrounding portion 252 protruding from an outer periphery of theplate portion 251 toward the supporting wall portion 121. The platecomponent 25 is sleeved on one end of the spring 24, with the plateportion 251 abutting against one end of the spring 24, and thesurrounding portion 252 surrounding and in frictional contact with thespring 24, so that the plate component 25 can be secured on the spring24 without rotation relative to the spring 24. The spring 24 is acompression spring having the one end that abuts against the plateportion 251 of the plate component 25 and the other end that abutsagainst the supporting wall portion 121 of the supporting wall 12, andis capable of biasing the rotating component 23 toward the pushingcomponent 22 through the plate component 25, thereby moving the pushingcomponent 22 relative to the hollow column 21 between a receivedposition (as shown in FIG. 3) and an ejected position (as shown in FIG.10).

The pushing component 22 further has a plurality of first engaging teeth226 disposed annularly on an inner end of the inner end portion 225.Each of the first engaging teeth 226 is V-shaped, and includes two firstinclined surfaces 227 and a first ridge 228 defined by the firstinclined surfaces 227. The rotating component 23 further includes aplurality of second engaging teeth 235 disposed annularly on an outerend of the ring member 231. Each of the second engaging teeth 235 isinverted V-shaped, and includes two second inclined surfaces 236, whichtogether define a second ridge 237 in between. The first engaging teeth226 of the pushing component 22 engage respectively with the secondengaging teeth 235 of the rotating component 23, so that when thepushing component 22 is pressed inwardly toward the supporting wallportion 121 of the supporting wall 12, the first ridge 228 of each ofthe first engaging teeth 226 applies to one of the second inclinedsurfaces 236 of a corresponding one of the second engaging teeth 235 aninward force to drive inward movement of the rotating component 23toward the supporting wall portion 121 of the supporting wall 12, and alateral force to drive the rotating component 23 to rotate about an axis(X) (see FIG. 4) in a predetermined rotational direction (D) (as shownin FIG. 8).

The hollow column 21 has an inner surrounding surface 211, an innerflange 212 extending radially and inwardly from the inner surroundingsurface 211 and adjacent to the outer end of the inner surroundingsurface 211, and a plurality of rib members 213 extending from the innerend of the inner flange 212 in a direction away from the opening 14 ofthe case 1 at equal spacing. Each adjacent pair of the rib members 213defines a long groove 214 opened toward the supporting wall portion 121.One end of each of the rib members 213 distal from the opening 14 of thecase 1 is jagged and has a first oblique guide surface 215, a secondoblique guide surface 216 parallel to the first oblique guide surface215, and a stop surface 217 connected between the first oblique guidesurface 215 and the second oblique guide surface 216. The first obliqueguide surface 215 and the stop surface 217 cooperate to define a shortgroove 218 opened toward the supporting wall portion 121 and shorterthan the long grooves 214 (i.e., the short grooves 218 are disposedalternately with the long grooves 214). The rotating component 23further includes a plurality of positioning teeth 233 protrudingradially and outwardly from an external surface of the ring member 231.The number of the positioning teeth 233 is the same as the numbers ofthe long grooves 214 and the short grooves 218. When the pushingcomponent 22 is at the received position, the positioning teeth 233 areengaged respectively with the short grooves 218. When the pushingcomponent 22 is at the ejected position, the positioning teeth 233 areretained respectively in the long grooves 214 and abut respectivelyagainst the inner end of the inner flange 212 (as shown in FIG. 11). Inthis embodiment, each of the numbers of the positioning teeth 233, thelong grooves 214 and the short grooves 218 is three. However, thedesigned numbers may be increased as required.

The case 1 is formed with two first positioning portions adjacent to theopening 14. The outer cover member 222 of the outer end portion 221 ofthe pushing component 22 is formed with two second positioning portionscorresponding to the first positioning positions. In this embodiment,each of the second positioning portions is a semispherical positioningprotrusion 26 projecting from a respective one of lateral sides of theouter cover member 222, and each of the first positioning portions is apositioning recess 16 formed in a respective one of the inner wallsurfaces 113 of the outer wall 11 and engaged with a respective one ofthe positioning protrusions 26 when the pushing component 22 is at thereceived position, such that the pushing component 22 is fastened in thecase 1 through the engagement between the positioning recesses 16 andthe positioning protrusions 26. The retaining member 223 of the outerend portion 221 of the pushing component 22 is further formed with twolimiting protrusions 28 abutting against the internal surface 112 of thecase 1 when the pushing component 22 is at the ejected position to stopthe pushing component 22 from being detached from the case 1.

The element 3 is disposed in the outer end portion 221 of the pushingcomponent 22. The retaining member 223 and the supporting wall portion121 are formed respectively with a through hole 224 and a through hole122. The element 3 is connected electrically to a radio frequencycircuit 4 on a mother board (not shown) through a wire 31 extendingthrough the through holes 224, 122. When the pushing component 22 is atthe received position, the element 3 is located within and shielded bythe case 1. When the pushing component 22 is at the ejected position,the element 3 is ejected out of the case 1 through the opening 14.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, when the pushing component 22 is at thereceived position, the positioning teeth 233 of the rotating component23 engage with the short grooves 218 respectively, the first ridge 228of each of the first engaging teeth 226 of the pushing component 22abuts against the one of the second inclined surfaces 236 of thecorresponding second engaging tooth 235 of the rotating component 23,and the spring 24 is in a compressed state. At this time, the pushingcomponent 22 is positioned in the outer wall 11 of the case 1 with anexternal surface of the outer cover member 222 being flush with theexternal surface 111 of the outer wall 11.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 8 and 9, during the ejection of the element 3 outof the case 1 through the opening 14, the outer cover member 222 of thepushing component 22 is pressed toward the supporting wall portion 121in a direction (F) (as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 8), so that thepositioning protrusions 26 of the outer end portion 221 are forced to bedetached from the 0positioning recesses 16 of the outer wall 11 of thecase 1 to enable the movement of the pushing component 22 toward thesupporting wall portion 121. During the movement of the pushingcomponent 22, the rotating component 23 is driven by the first ridges228 of the first engaging teeth 226 to move toward the supporting wallportion 121, so that the positioning teeth 233 are disengagedrespectively from the short grooves 218, and the spring 24 is furthercompressed by the rotating component 23. At the same time, the rotatingcomponent 23 is driven by the lateral forces exerted by the first ridges228 of the first engaging teeth 226 to rotate about the axis (X) in thepredetermined rotational direction (D) when the positioning teeth 233are detached from the stop surfaces 217 respectively. After the firstengaging teeth 226 completely and respectively engage with the secondengaging teeth 235, the rotation of the rotating component 23 isarrested. At this time, the positioning teeth 233 move to positionscorresponding respectively to the second oblique guide surfaces 216 ofthe rib members 213. It should be noted that, since the plate component25 is immovably sleeved on the spring 24, and an internal surroundingsurface 234 (see FIG. 5) of the ring member 231 that defines thereceiving groove 232 has an inner diameter slightly larger than theouter diameter of the surrounding portion 252 of the plate component 25,the rotating component 23 is in frictional contact with the plateportion 251 of the plate component 25 but is rotatable relative to theplate component 25.

As shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11, when the force applied to the outercover member 222 of the pushing component 22 is released, the rotatingcomponent 23 is driven by a resilient restoring force of the spring 24to push outwardly the pushing component 22 along with the element 3.Each of the positioning teeth 233, when abutting against a correspondingone of the second oblique guide surfaces 216, is guided by thecorresponding one of the second oblique guide surfaces 216 to rotate andslide thereon toward a corresponding one of the long grooves 214, and atthe same time, each of the second engaging teeth 235 of the rotatingcomponent 23 is moved over the first ridge 228 of the next firstengaging tooth 226 in the predetermined rotational direction (D). Oncethe positioning teeth 233 abut respectively against side portions of therib members 213, the rotation of the rotating component 23 is arrested.Due to the resilient restoring force of the spring 24, the positioningteeth 233 slide outwardly and respectively along the long grooves 214and abut against the inner end of the inner flange 212, and the pushingcomponent 22 is urged by the rotating component 23 to move outwardly tothe ejected position and consequently moves the element 3 out of thecase 1. In addition, during the outward movement of the pushingcomponent 22, the positioning protrusions 26 would be moved to andengage respectively with the positioning recesses 16 once again, and theresilient restoring force of the spring 24 is sufficient to disengagethe positioning protrusions 26 from the positioning recesses 16, so thatthe pushing component 22 can continuously move to the ejected position.After being ejected out of the case 1, the element 3 is not shielded bythe case 1, thereby achieving good signal transmission and receivingefficiency.

As shown in FIGS. 10, 12 and 13, during the movement of the pushingcomponent 22 from the ejected position to the received position forretracting the element 3 into the case 1, the outer end portion 221 ofthe pushing component 22 is pressed toward the supporting wall portion121 in the direction (F), the first ridge 228 of each of the firstengaging teeth 226 applies an inward force to the second inclinedsurface 236 of the corresponding second engaging tooth 235 to driveinward movement of the rotating component 23, thereby detaching thepositioning teeth 233 from the long grooves 214, and compressing thespring 24. At the same time, the first ridge 228 of each of the firstengaging teeth 226 applies a lateral force to the second inclinedsurface 236 of the corresponding second engaging tooth 235 to drive therotating component 23 to rotate about the axis (X) in the predetermineddirection (D) after the positioning teeth 233 are detached from the longgrooves 214. Once the first engaging teeth 226 of the pushing component22 are completely and respectively engaged with the second engagingteeth 235 of the rotating component 23, the rotation of the rotatingcomponent 23 is arrested. At this time, each of the positioning teeth233 moves to the first oblique guide surface 215 of the next one of therib members 213 in the predetermined rotational direction (D).

As shown in FIGS. 3, 7 and 13, when the force applied to the outer endportion 221 of the pushing component 22 is released, the resilientrestoring force of the spring 24 drives the rotating component 23 topush outwardly the pushing component 22. Each of the positioning teeth233, when abutting against the next one of the first oblique guidesurfaces 215, is guided by the next one of the first oblique guidesurfaces 215 to rotate and slide thereon toward a next one of the shortgrooves 218 in the predetermined rotational direction (D), and at thesame time, each of the second engaging teeth 235 of the rotatingcomponent 23 is moved over the first ridge 228 of the next firstengaging tooth 226 in the predetermined rotational direction (D). Onceeach of the positioning teeth 233 engages with the next one short groove218 in the predetermined rotational direction (D) by abutting againstthe stop surface 217 thereof, the rotation of the rotating component 23is stopped. At this time, the pushing component 22 returns to thereceived position as shown in FIG. 3, and the element 3 is locatedwithin the case 1.

FIG. 14 shows a second embodiment of the portable electronic deviceaccording to the present invention. The second embodiment is similar tothe first embodiment, except that the first positioning portion and thesecond positioning portion of the portable electronic device 200 areconfigured as a first positioning surface 17 and a second positioningsurface 27, respectively. The first positioning surface 17 and thesecond positioning surface 27 are in frictional contact to be positionedrelative to each other.

To sum up, in the portable electronic devices 100, 200 of the presentembodiments, through the installation of the push-push mechanism 2, auser only needs to press inwardly the pushing component 22 at thereceived position by a distance, so that the pushing component 22 can beejected to the ejected position and the element 3 can be ejected out ofthe case 1. The user can also press inwardly the pushing component 22 atthe ejected position by a distance, so that the pushing component 22 canbe moved to the received position and the element 3 can be moved intothe case 1.

While the present invention has been described in connection with whatare considered the most practical embodiments, it is understood thatthis invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but isintended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all suchmodifications and equivalent arrangements.

1. A portable electronic device comprising: a case formed with anopening; a push-push mechanism including: a hollow column that isdisposed in said case, and that has an inner surrounding surface, aplurality of angularly spaced-apart long grooves formed in said innersurrounding surface, and a plurality of short grooves formed in saidinner surrounding surface, disposed alternately with said long groovesand shorter than said long grooves, a pushing component that has anouter end portion disposed in said case at a position adjacent to saidopening, an inner end portion extending from said outer end portion intosaid hollow column, and a plurality of first engaging teeth disposedannularly on said inner end portion, a rotating component that ismovably disposed in said hollow column and that includes a ring member,a plurality of positioning teeth protruding radially and outwardly froman external surface of said ring member, and a plurality of secondengaging teeth disposed annularly on said ring member and abuttingagainst said first engaging teeth, and a spring that is disposed in saidhollow column and that biases said rotating component toward saidpushing component; and an element that is connected to said outer endportion of said pushing component; wherein said pushing component iscapable of moving relative to said hollow column between a receivedposition, where said positioning teeth engage respectively with saidshort grooves and said element is located within said case, and anejected position, where said positioning teeth are slidably andrespectively received in said long grooves and said element is ejectedout of said case through said opening.
 2. The portable electronic deviceof claim 1, wherein said case is formed with a first positioning portionadjacent to said opening, and said outer end portion of said pushingcomponent is formed with a second positioning portion corresponding tosaid first positioning position, such that when said pushing componentis at the received position, said pushing component is fastened in saidcase through engagement between said first positioning portion and saidsecond positioning portion.
 3. The portable electronic device of claim2, wherein one of said first positioning portion and said secondpositioning portion is a positioning protrusion, and the other one ofsaid first positioning portion and said second positioning portion is apositioning recess engaged with said positioning protrusion when saidpushing component is at the received position.
 4. The portableelectronic device of claim 2, wherein each of said first positioningportion and said second positioning portion is a positioning surface,said first and second positioning portions being in frictional contactwith each other when said pushing component is at the received position.5. The portable electronic device of claim 2, wherein said outer endportion of said pushing component is further formed with at least onelimiting protrusion abutting against an internal surface of said casewhen said pushing component is at the ejected position.
 6. The portableelectronic device of claim 5, wherein said push-push mechanism furtherincludes a plate component sleeved on one end of said spring, saidrotating component being sleeved on said plate component, said caseincluding an outer wall that has said internal surface, and a supportingwall that is recessed in said outer wall, the other end of said springabutting against said supporting wall.
 7. The portable electronic deviceof claim 6, wherein, when said pushing component moves from the receivedposition to the ejected position, said rotating component moves towardsaid opening of said case and rotates about an axis of said rotatingcomponent in a predetermined rotational direction, and when said pushingcomponent moves from the ejected position to the received position, saidrotating component moves away from said opening and rotates about theaxis in the predetermined rotational direction.
 8. The portableelectronic device of claim 7, wherein said hollow column further has aninner flange extending radially and inwardly from said inner surroundingsurface, and a plurality of rib members extending from said inner flangein a direction away from said opening of said case, each of said longgrooves being defined between an adjacent pair of said rib members, eachof said short grooves being defined at one end of a respective one ofsaid rib members distal from said opening of said case, each of saidpositioning teeth abutting against said inner flange when said pushingcomponent is at the ejected position.
 9. The portable electronic deviceof claim 8, wherein each of said first engaging teeth is V-shaped andhas two first inclined surfaces and a first ridge defined by said twofirst inclined surfaces, and each of said second engaging teeth isinverted V-shaped and has two second inclined surfaces, said first ridgeof each of said first engaging teeth abutting against one of said twosecond inclined surfaces of a respective one of said second engagingteeth, so that when said pushing component is pressed, said rotatingcomponent rotates about said axis in said predetermined rotationaldirection.
 10. The portable electronic device of claim 9, wherein saidend of each of said rib members distal from said opening of said casehas a first oblique guide surface, a second oblique guide surface and astop surface connected between said first oblique guide surface and saidsecond oblique guide surface, said first oblique guide surface of eachof said rib members being disposed for guiding sliding movement of arespective one of said positioning teeth thereon when said pushingcomponent is moved from the ejected position to the received position,said second oblique surface of each of said rib members being disposedfor guiding sliding movement of the respective one of said positioningteeth thereon when said pushing component is moved from the receivedposition to the ejected position, said first oblique guide surface andsaid stop surface cooperating with each other to define said shortgroove.
 11. The portable electronic device of claim 10, furthercomprising a radio frequency circuit accommodated in said case, saidouter end portion of said pushing component being a hollow casing thatis formed with a through hole, said element being an antenna that isdisposed in said hollow casing, and that is connected electrically tosaid radio frequency circuit through a wire extending through saidthrough hole.